Today in Latin America

The gunmen attacked four police cars on a highway in the town of Navolato Monday and then fled, allegedly abandoning a vehicle several miles away.

“They were surprised by a convoy of three or four cars … (The police) were driving on the highway when this gang caught up with them and began shooting with automatic weapons,” a spokesman for the state prosecutor’s office said, according to Reuters.

It is also home to one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels, the Sinaloa cartel, which is led by Mexico’s most-wanted fugitive, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

The attack occurred 50 miles from the state capital, Culiacán.

More than 28,000 people have died in drug violence since Mexican President Felipe Calderón began his assault on the drug cartels in December of 2006, which has sparked turf wars between rival groups, shootouts and an increased focus on violence in the country.

It was also reported that two headless bodies were found hanging from their feet on a bridge near the border city of Tijuana.

President Hugo Chávez announced the expropriation of two more companies Sunday, the latest among hundreds of enterprises taken over in the socialist leaders campaign to make Venezuela less capitalistic.